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DECISION No

DECISION No.96-TTg OF FEBRUARY 8, 1996 OF THE PRIME MINISTER PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR COORDINATION OF VIETNAM'S ACTIVITIES IN ASEAN

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of September 30, 1992;

Pursuant to Decision No.651-TTg of October 10, 1995 of the Prime Minister on the establishment of the National Committee for Coordination of Vietnam's Activities in ASEAN;

At the proposal of the Minister-Director of the Office of the Government,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To issue together with this Decision the Regulation on the Organization and Operation of the National Committee for Coordination of Vietnam's Activities in ASEAN (National ASEAN Committee for short).

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect from the date of its signing.

The earlier provisions which are contrary to this Decision are now annuled.

Article 3.- The Chairman, the members and the General Secretary of the National ASEAN Committee, the Ministers, the Heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the Presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces or cities directly under the Central Government shall have to implement this Decision.

The Prime Minister

VO VAN KIET

REGULATION ON THE ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR COORDINATION OF VIETNAM'S ACTIVITIES IN ASEAN

(issued together with Decision No.96-TTg of February 8, 1996 of the Prime Minister)

Article 1.- The National Committee for Coordination of Vietnam's Activities in ASEAN (National ASEAN Committee for short) , established under Decision No.651-TTg of October 10, 1995 of the Prime Minister, is an agency to assist the Prime Minister in guiding the Ministries, branches at the central level, and the People's Committees of the provinces or cities directly under the Central Government, and the mass organizations and people's associations (hereinafter referred to as the agencies) to participate in the activities of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the security, political, economic, cultural, social, scientific, technical and external fields.

Article 2.- The National ASEAN Committee has the following tasks:

1. To sum up and evaluate proposals on guidelines, policies and plans (long-term and annual) of Vietnam for the participation in ASEAN's activities, which are submitted by the agencies to the Government and the Prime Minister; to propose major guidelines and policies concerning the relations with ASEAN.

2. To assign and direct agencies to discharge their duties and participate in the activities and cooperation programs with ASEAN; to direct the agencies in organizing apparatuses and training specialists for ASEAN affairs.

3. To organize the preliminary summing-up and summing-up, prepare periodical (quarterly, annual) and extraordinary reports on the activities of ASEAN and of Vietnam in ASEAN to be submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister.

4. To evaluate and submit to the Prime Minister for ratification the legal documents and agreements of ASEAN which require amendments or promulgation of new legal documents in the country; the plans and projects on the participation in and organization of, meetings and visits of the ministerial or higher levels.

5. To perform other tasks assigned by the Prime Minister.

Article 3.- Competence of the National ASEAN Committee:

1. To request other agencies to provide data and report on the issues relating to ASEAN and activities in ASEAN.

2. To inspect the agencies' implementation of the duties, programs and cooperation projects with ASEAN.

3. To direct the management and utilization of the financial assistance from foreign Governments and international organizations for Vietnam's activities in ASEAN.

Article 4.- Organization and working mechanism of the National ASEAN Committee:

1. The National ASEAN Committee consists of a Chairman, who is a Deputy Prime Minister; its members are Heads of Government agencies and appointed by the Prime Minister; a General Secretary, who is the Deputy Director of the Office of the Government working on a part-time basis. The members of the Committee take personal responsibilities for the tasks assigned by the Chairman of the National Committee.

2. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee is an assisting agency of the National Committee.

3. The Chairman of the National ASEAN Committee has the following responsibilities:

- To resolve, on behalf of the Prime Minister, the proposals of the Government agencies concerning the discharge of the obligations and the participation of Vietnam in ASEAN, in conformity with the guidelines of the Government and the Prime Minister; to assign the Ministries and branches to participate as coordinating agencies, in the organizations, activities, programs and projects of ASEAN;

- To convene and chair regular and extraordinary meetings of the Committee. In case of necessity, to invite the heads of concerned agencies and individuals to attend meetings of the Committee and make conclusions on issues raised at such meetings;

- To assign tasks to each member and the General Secretary of the Committee, monitor and inspect the discharge of their assigned tasks.

- To ratify and issue regulations on the coordination between the Ministries and branches in the fields and organizations of ASEAN, submitted by the Head of the coordinating agency; to ratify plans on the participation in ASEAN's activities; to ratify plans on the utilization of financial assistance for Vietnam's activities in ASEAN at the proposals of the Ministry of Finance and the relevant agencies.

4. The members of the National ASEAN Committee have the following tasks and powers:

The members and the General Secretary of the National ASEAN Committee shall have to perform the tasks assigned by the Chairman of the Committee and periodically report the results to him/her; attend all the meetings of the Committee and efficiently take part in the general directional activities of the Committee. The members of the Committee may invite relevant agencies to discuss issues concerning the fulfillment of their responsibilities in accordance with the following regulations:

- The Minister-Director of the Office of the Government shall assist the Chairman of the Committee in performing all the tasks of the National ASEAN Committee;

- The Minister of Foreign Affairs shall attend ASEAN Ministerial Meetings (AMM) and the ASEAN Joint Ministerial Meetings (JMM), and guide the concerned agencies in carrying out the decisions adopted at such Meetings after reporting them to, and obtaining the approval of, the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Committee; assist the Chairman of the Committee in directing the elaboration of guidelines and policies on relations with ASEAN in the political and security fields; direct the preparations for the Prime Minister's participation in formal and informal summit meetings; direct the participation in and the implementation of the decisions, of the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meetings (SOM), the Joint Consultative Meetings (JCM), the ASEAN Standing Council (ASC); and direct the activities of the National ASEAN Secretariat;

- The Minister of Planning and Investment shall assist the Chairman of the Committee in directing the elaboration of economic guidelines and policies for the effective participation in the activities and cooperation projects of ASEAN;

- The Minister of Trade shall attend ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meetings (AEM) and guide the concerned agencies to execute the decisions adopted at such Meetings; together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs attend ASEAN Joint Ministerial Meetings (JMM), and guide the concerned agencies to execute the decisions adopted at such Meetings (those regarding the economic cooperation) after reporting them to, and obtaining the approval from, the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the Committee; assist the Chairman of the Committee in directing the elaboration of general guidelines and policies into specific guidelines and policies on economic cooperation with ASEAN; direct the preparation for , participation in, and implementation of the decisions of, the ASEAN Senior Economic Officials' Meetings (SEOM); direct the coordinating agencies for economic cooperation in ASEAN;

- The Minister of Finance shall attend the meetings of the AFTA Council, assist the Chairman of the Committee in directing the implementation of the ASEAN Common Effective Preferential Tariffs (CEPT), the participation in the program for establishing the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), and the dicharge of the financial obligations in ASEAN; in directing the preparation for, participation in and implementation of the decisions of, the meetings of the ASEAN Budget Committee and Auditing Committee; in directing Vietnam's coordinating agencies on AFTA;

- The General Secretary of the Committee assists the Chairman and members of the Committee in administering and handling the daily work of the Committee; makes periodical reports of the Committee to be submitted to the Government and the Prime Minister; passes the guidances of the Chairman of the Committee to other agencies; directly guides the activities of the Office of the ASEAN National Committee.

Article 5.- The Sub-Committee on Economic Cooperation and the Sub-Committee on Specialized Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as the Sub-Committees):

1. The Sub-Committee on Economic Cooperation advises the National Committee on issues relating to economic activities of Vietnam in ASEAN. The Office of the Government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Communication and Transport, the Ministry of Aquatic Products, the State Bank, the General Customs Department, the General Tousism Department, the General Post Office and other agencies and organizations (if necessary), shall each appoint one official at the department level and one expert to take part in the Committee on a part-time basis. The Head of the Sub-Committee shall be the Head of Vietnam's delegation to SEOM (ASEAN Economic Senior Officials' Meetings), appointed by the Ministry of Trade;

2. The Sub-Committee on Specialized Cooperation advises the Committee on issues relating to the activities of Vietnam in specialized areas of ASEAN. The Office of the Government, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Health, the Committee on Nationalities and Mountainous Areas, and other agencies and organizations (if necessary), shall each appoint one official at the department level and one expert to take part in the Committee on a part-time basis. The Head of the Sub-Committee is the Director of the National ASEAN Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;

3. The Sub-Committees have the responsibility to examine the agencies' participation in the cooperation activities in ASEAN so as to make proposals to the Committee on raising the efficiency of the activities of Vietnam in ASEAN;

4. The members of the Sub-Committees have the responsibility to attend all the meetings of the Sub-Committees. The members who are department level officials shall represent their agencies to report on the work in ASEAN the opinions and proposals of their agencies to the Sub-Committees as well as on the opinions and results of the Sub-Committees' sessions to their agencies;

5. The members of the Sub-Committees shall represent their agencies to participate in joint-ministerial or inter-branch activities in ASEAN (including ASEAN meetings) at the corresponding levels; request the officials attending the ASEAN meetings in the fields of their respective agencies' management to report on the results of such meetings and supply all documents to the Sub-Committees for summarization and submission to the Committee;

6. Working mechanism of the Sub-Committees:

- The Sub-Committees meet regularly once every two months. In case of necessity, the Heads of the Sub-Committees may convene extraordinary meetings. The proposals of the Sub-Committees submitted to the Committee shall be adopted by consensus.

- Prior to each periodical session of the Committee, the two Sub-Committees shall hold joint meetings to prepare the agenda for the Committee's session. The Office of the Committee may convene joint extraordinary meetings when necessary.

Article 6.- The Office of the National ASEAN Committee:

1. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee is the assisting agency of the Committee, consisting of specialists of the Office of the Government and led by a Department Director.

2. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee shall assist the Chairman and members of the Committee in organizing and coordinating activities of Vietnam's agencies in ASEAN.

3. The Office of the National ASEAN Committee has the following tasks:

- To prepare the agenda and organize the National Committee's sessions in accordance with its approved plans, as well as the meetings between the Chairman and members of the Committee.

- To coordinate and direct the agencies' ASEAN departments to participate in the activities, cooperate and fulfill obligations in ASEAN. To monitor the realization of the conclusions made at the sessions of the National ASEAN Committee.

- To sum up the plans on the participation in ASEAN's activities, elaborated by the various agencies, and submit them to the National ASEAN Committee for ratification and decision.

- To monitor the programs and researches on ASEAN; to organize seminars to report to the National ASEAN Committee on issues necessary to its work.

- To monitor personnel training and the equipment of working facilities for the ASEAN Departments of the various agencies with a view to efficiently servicing the activities of Vietnam in ASEAN.

Article 7.- The fund for the operation of the National ASEAN Committee shall be supplied by the Ministry of Finance from the State budget and allocated through the Office of the Government. The Office of the Government shall ensure the fund and working facilities in service of the operation of the National ASEAN Committee.

The Prime Minister

VO VAN KIET